"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" (Song of Solomon 2: 10).
I hear the voice of my Beloved! He speaks to me! He bids me, "Rise up," and well He may, for I have long enough been lying among the pots of worldliness. He is risen, and I am risen in Him. Why then should I cleave to the dust? From lower loves, desires, pursuits, and aspirations, I would rise toward Him. He calls me by the sweet title of "My love," and He counts me fair. If He has exalted me and thinks I am beautiful, how can I linger and find congenial associates among the sons of men? He bids me, "Come away." Farther and farther from everything selfish He calls me. "Come away" has no harsh sound to my ear, for what is there to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin? Oh, my Lord, I would, if it were possible, have neither eyes nor ears nor heart for sin. To come to You is to come home from exile, to come to land out of the raging storm, to come to rest after long labor, to come to the goal of my desires and the summit of my wishes. But Lord, how can a stone rise? How can a lump of clay come away from the horrible pit? Your grace can do it. Send Your Holy Spirit to kindle sacred flames of love in my heart, and I will continue to rise until I leave earthly life behind me and indeed come away.